Locomotive driving and spring rigging construction



Oct. 31, 1933'. w. E. WOODARD 1,932,432

LOCOMOTIVE DRIVING AND SPRING RIGGING CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR "wa mi Oct. 31, 1933. WOODARD 1,932,432

LOCOMOTIIE DRIVING AND SPRING RIGGING CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W. E. WOODARD LOCOHO'I'IVE DRIVING AND SPRING RIGGING CONSTRUCTION Filed Au 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 TOR ATTORNEYs Oct. 31, 1933. w. E. wooDARD 1,932,432

LOCOMOTIVE DRIVING AND SPRING RIGGING CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS INV R l atented Get. 31 1933 uNrrse STATES PATENT QFFICEY 1 LocoMoTIvE DRIVING AND SPRING RIGGING CONSTRUCTION William E. Woodard, Forest Hills, N. Y. Application-August 9, 1930. Serial No. 474,153

" Claims. (01. 10582 This invention relates to improvements in locomotive construction whereby to make available a greater space for the application of increased counter-balance weights or masses to the. driving wheels of the modern, large type, high power locomotives.

The invention will be better understood when it is recalled that as locomotives have increased in size and power, it has been necessary to correspondingly increase'the weight of their reciprccating and rotating parts.

This increase in the reciprocating and rotating parts makes it necessary, of course, to properly counterbalance them and certain difficulties have been encountered in obtaining counterweights of sufiicient weight or mass and thereof on the wheel with a proper disposition so as to secure a proper rotative and reciprocating balance of the moving parts. I of the crank pins,

The rotating parts consist, in the main, the side rods, and the back the counterweights are the weight of these parts as well as to offset a certain'percentage of the counterbalance for the reciprocating weights.- In present practice, with journal housing or driving the customary type of box the'weight of the superstructure is transmitted to the bearings through the spring is known as a spring igging by means of what saddle which straddles the upper rail of the locomotive frame and rests upon the box. Furthermore, the equalizing bars are ordinarily placed between the upper and lower frame members, being connected to the springs by hangers which frame members.

inwardly is limited b of the spring saddle clearance must be provided at the inner face of the spring hangers and y the position of this leg Furthermore, sufficient for the pins which connect the hangers to the ends of the equalizing beams and it is also to be noted that the total distance between the inner faces of the driving tires is determined and positively set by the track gauge.

This arrangement of parts, therefore, necessarily imposes a distinct limitation upon the space available for the counterweights and in all previous practice with which I am familiar, the

counterweight mass on the driving wheel has not projected beyond t at a t n the inner face of the drivt sufficiently far beyond to boxes is located so as not to project to any of the also straddle the upper With the arrangements just described, it is obvious that one leg of the spring make possible any real increase in the size of the counterweight mass.

The principal object of my invention, therefore, is the provision of a construction in'which the weight transmitting means between the superco structure and the journal housings or driving substantial extent ifat all beyond'the outer face frame so as to leave a clear space between the inner face, of the tire and the outer face 5 of the frame into which an increased counterweight can be made. to project.

How the foregoing object is attained, together with such other objects as may appear hereinafter, or are incident to my invention, is illus- 7 trated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a view in elevation taken substantially as indicated by the line 1-lin, Fig. 2, but with the upper portion of the frame broken away to more clearly illustrate certain portions of my improved structure.

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

, Fig. 3 is a plan new of a portion of the spring rigging arrangements on one side of the locomotive.

Fig. l is a view similar to that of Fig. l'illustrating a modified arrangement. 5

Fig. 5 is a compound sectionalview taken ap- 5 proximately on the lines 55 and 5a-5a of Fig.4.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a portion of the spring rigging arrangements used with the modification of Figse and 5,and

Fig. '7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig/ l. gr

By referringfirst to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, of the drawings it willbe seen that'I have included in the illustration only one of the locomotive driving axles l of which, however, there may be as many as'desired and probably at least'four or five inthe large type locomotives to which my invention is particularly applicable. The axle carries the customary driving wheels 5 having the driving pins 6 upon which are mounted the usual driving rods and the wheels are provided m with the familiar tires 7.,

Insidethe wheels are the customary journal housings or driving boxes 8 fitted between the pedestal jaws 9 of the upper and lower frame members 10 and 11 respectively, said boxes being provided with the customary flanges 8' and 8" extending, respectively, along the outside and theinside of the frame. Below each jaw is the usual pedestal binder 12,.

1-The' support for the'springs 13 consists of 11$ a member 14 which extends downwardly and inwardly from a point below the spring to suitable bearing points on the inside of the driving box, the lower end of the member 14 being bifurcated to straddle the axle 4. This member 14. may be made integral with the driving box if so desired, although I prefer to make it a separate member as illustrated in the drawings and to provide a bearing therefor on the upper inner edge of the box, as well as a pair of spaced bearings near the lower inner edge of the box at each side of the axle upon the inwardly projecting lugs 15. i'

It will be seen that each member 14 passes downwardly entirely on the inside of the frame and that the upper or supporting portion 16 does not project outwardly beyond the outer face of the upper frame member 10.

On the side which faces the frame and the box each member 14 is provided with a pair of reinforcing or strengthening ribs 17 which merge into a'transverse block or rib 18 adapted to rest on the upper portion 19 of the driving box. The rib 18 has a downwardly projecting tongue 20 adapted to fit into a suitable depression or slot 21 in the upper race of the box. Each arm 22 of the bifurcated lower portion of the member 14 fits into a recess in a projecting lug 15 on the box as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

It will be seen that, by forming the member 14 as shown, supporting it upon the box at 19 and by preventing tipping thereof by engaging the ends 22 in the recessed lugs 15 at the lower inner edge of the box, I am enabled to support the driving spring directly over the lateral cross center of the driving box. In this way the normal and usual loading of the box bearing at its longitudinal center is retained. This is important as it is highly desirable to load the box centrally so as to insure even wear and prevent undue heating.

The equalizing bars 23 for the springs 13 are preferably mounted on the upper surface or face of the upper rail 10 of the frame, for which purpose I provide the saddle like structure 24 hav ing the downwardly extending flange 25 adapted to be secured against the inner face of the upper rail 10. The bars 23 rock upon the pivot pins 26 and the ends of the bars 23 are attached to the ends of the springs 13 by the hangers 27.

It will be noticed that the equalizing bars, together with the supporting and conecting structures associated therewith, are also arranged so as not to project to any substantial extentbeyond the outer face of the frame. The entire arrangement, therefore, of support for the spring, as well as equalizing rigging, provides a substantial degree of clear space between the inner face of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame into which a counterweight 28 of substantially increased mass can project as clearly shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that the counterweight projects inwardly over the outer upper edge of the box across the plane of the flanges 8 toward the outer face of the frame member and that it occupies a space which is generally given over to the outer leg or arm of the supporting saddle for the spring and to the hangers connecting the equalizer bars to the ends of the springs.

In the modified construction shown in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, the journal housings or boxes 8a are elongated and the two boxes for each axle 4. are bolted together on the longitudinal center line of the locomotive as at 29. The springs 30 in this arrangement rest directly on the housings just inside the frame. The equalizers 31 are pivoted between the upper and lower frame members 10 and 11 upon the frame filler 32 and the hangers 33 carry the cross member 34 which has bifurcated ends 35 adapted to be connected to the ends of the equalizers 31 as clearly shown in Figs. 4 to 7. All of this spring rigging is located to the inside of the outer face of the frame so as to leave the space between the frame and the driving wheel tire '7 free for reception of the increased counterweight 28. Therefore, the means for transmitting the weight of the superstructure to the journal housings in no way interferes with the counterweight.

I claim:-

1. A locomotive characterized by the fact that the weight transmitting means is disposed to the inside of the outer face of the frame and further by the fact that counterweights of increased weight and size are arranged on the driving wheels so as to project into the space between the inside of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame.

2. In a locomotive, the combination of a frame, a driving wheel, a journal housing, weight transmitting means disposed to the inside of the outer face of the frame, and a counterweight mass arranged to project into the space between the inside of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame.

3. In a locomotive, the combination of a driving wheel, a frame inside the plane of said wheel, a driving box with its journal arranged so that the longitudinal center of the journal is disposed substantially centrally of the frame, a spring, supporting means between the spring and the box, such means being entirely disposed to the inside of the outside face of the frame, and a counterweight mass arranged to project inwardly into the space between the inside of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame.

4. In a locomotive, the combination of a frame, a driving box, a driving wheel, a spring, supporting means between the spring and the box disposed to the inside of the outside face of the frame, and a counterweight mass arranged to project into the space between the inside or" the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame.

5. In a locomotive, the combination of a wheel, a frame inside the plane of said wheel, a driving box with its journal arranged so that the longitudinal center of the journal is disposed substantially centrally of the frame, a spring, supporting means between the spring and the box disposed to the inside of the outside face of the frame, and a spring equalizer means mounted on the frame to the inside of the outside face thereof.

6. In a locomotive, the combination of a frame,

to project into the space between the inside of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame member, together with spring equalizing means mounted on the frame to the inside of the path of movement of said counterweight;

ice

its

7. In a locomotive, the combination with the frame, axle, driving box and spring, of a support for the spring disposed to the inside of the frame and bifurcated to straddle the axle, said support extending inwardly and downwardly from a point of said wheel, a driving box,

under the spring to bear upon the inner side of the box.

8. In a locomotive, the combination with the frame, axle, driving box and spring, of a support for the spring disposed to the inside of the frame and bifurcated to straddle the axle, said support extending inwardly and downwardly from a point under the spring to bear upon the inner side of the box at a point above the axle andat spaced points on each side of the axle.

9. In a locomotive, the combination of a driving wheel, a frame inside the plane of said wheel, an axle, a driving box, a spring, supporting means for the spring, said means being entirely disposed to the inside of the outer face of the frame and said supporting means including a member which extends upwardly from the inside of the box and outwardly around and above the frame to a point below the spring, and a counterweight mass arranged to project into the space between the inside of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame.

10. In a locomotive, the combination with the frame, axle, driving box and spring, of a detachable support for the spring disposed to the inside of the frame, said support extending upwardly from the inside of the box and outwardly around and above the frame to a-point below the spring and having a downwardly projecting tongue adapted to fit into a recess on the upper side of the box.

11. In a locomotive, the combination of a frame, a driving axle, a driving wheel, a driving box, a spring, a support for the spring, a counterweight mass on the wheel adapted to project over the outer upper edge of the box substantially toward the outer face of the frame, and spring equalizing means mounted on the frame, said spring support and said equalizing means being disposed to the inside of the path of movement of said counterweight mass.

12. In a locomotive, the combination of a driving wheel, a frame inside the plane of said wheel, a driving box with its bearing, a spring, supporting means for the spring, said means being 'entirely disposed to the inside of the outer face of the frame and arranged to transmit the load to substantially the longitudinal center of the box bearing, and a counterweight mass'arranged to project into the space between the inside of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame.

13. In a locomotive, the combination of a frame, a driving wheel, a journal housing,- a spring resting on the housing to the inside of the frame, a spring equalizer mounted on the frame, hangers, said equalizer and said hangers being disposed to the inside of the outer face of the frame, and a counterweight mass arranged to project into the space between the inside of the driving wheel tire and the outer face of the frame.

14. In a locomotive, the combination of a pair of driving wheels with their journal housings for supporting superstructure load, weight transmitting means between the superstructure and the journal housings disposed to the inside of the outer face of the frame and a counterweight mass arranged to project into the space between the inside of each driving wheel tire and the outer face of the adjacent frame.

15. In a locomotive, the combination of an axle with its driving wheel, a frame inside the plane a journal bearing in ing wheel, a

rocating and rotating parts.

said box, a weight supporting spring disposed in a plane substantially coinciding with the longitudinal center line of the journal bearing, supporting means between the spring and the box arranged to provide a clear annular space surrounding the outer end of the journal box between the wheel and the outer face of the frame, and a counterweight mass arranged to project into said space.

16. In a locomotive, the combination of a driving wheel, a frame inside the plane of said driv-. driving box housed in the frame, said box having. flanges extending between the wheel and the frame, and counterbalance means on the wheel extending inwardly toward the outer face of the frame across the plane of said flanges.

1'7 A locomotive characterized by the provision of a driving wheel and spring borne structure carried thereon, the said driving wheel having a counterweight which projects inwardly beyond the driving wheel into the space between the wheel and the adjacent spring borne structure whereby to make possible the more effective balancing of the rotating and reciprocating parts.

18. In a locomotive having reciprocating driving parts; a frame structure; a driving axle; a driving wheel thereon positioned laterally outside the frame structure; a driving box in which the axle is journalled; said wheel having an outer face with means for mounting such driving parts and an inner face comprising a central hub and a rim; spring structure and weight-transmitting structure connected to yieldingly support the frame structure on said box; the frame structure, spring structure and weight-transmitting structure on the one hand, and the inner face of the wheel with its hub and rim on the other hand, being so relatively positioned and arranged as to provide a clear annular space surrounding the outer end of the driving box and extending laterally inwardly from the inner face of the wheel, which space has an outside diameter at least approximating the diameter of the wheel rim; and a counterweight for such'driving parts, mounted in the wheel and extendinginwardly beyond the inner wheel face to revolve in the path presented by said clear annular space wherebyto make possible more effective balancing of the driving parts.

19. In a locomotive having a driving rod and r a driving pin on the outside of a driving wheel, thecombination of frame, driving box and load transmitting structures arranged with respect to said driving wheel so as to provide space to the inside of the wheel for the accommodation of a counterweight which projects inwardly beyond the inner face of the wheel across the space between the wheel and the adjacent structure, whereby to more adequately balance the recip- 20. In a locomotive having a frame with pedestal jaws, the combination of a driving wheel, a journal housing, a spring, weight transmitting means between the spring and the housing arranged to provide a rounding the outer end of the journal housing between the wheel and the plane of the outer face of said jaws, and a counterweight mass projecting into said space whereby more effective balancing of the parts is secured.

WILLIAM E. WOODARD.

0162.1 annular space S111---, 

